Sunday, March 01, 2009
My Birthday Girl
Saturday, February 28, 2009
A bit more of party fun...
Emily loved her balloons! She walked around the room laughing and smiling as the flew behind her!
After we had cake and Emily was getting ready to open her presents we announced to our family and friends that we are expecting again in September! I think there was alot of shock, but ultimatly excitement! Mick and I went thru alot of shock when we found out as well, so we expected some from our family. In fact, I called Mick and was pretty much speechless when I took the test last week...still am in a bit of shock here!
Happy Birthday Emily!
Emily tasting her cake as big brother looks on!
Friday, February 27, 2009
Restaurant 360
So dinner on the 18th floor of our hotel was incredible! The views were breath-taking. In talking to our waitress, we learned that it takes about 90 minutes to do the full rotation. We were there for about 75 minutes, so we did not miss much. Luke thought it was so cool to realize that we were actually moving during dinner. The new football stadium looked pretty neat, from a girl that gives a hoot about sports. The cathedral was beautiful as were the open hillsides. At one point we were looking at a really neat building, and when we read the description, we learned that it was a multi-million dollar building of condos. The most expensive condo was 3 floors! It also had a guest house in it. Sorry, I can not remember the details, but when dining with a 3 year old and 1 year old you have to pay very close attention to them ;0) After dinner, we ordered dessert, 2 types of cheesecake that we shared. It was so good and Luke loved that his was drizzled with a green syrup (since green is his favorite color, he thought it was pretty cool!) We headed back to our room after dinner and got the kids ready for bed and we started packing up to get ready for the drive home on Wednesday. As we were looking at our navigator, we realized that it was only going to be a 5 hour drive home, rather than the 8 we were thinking...so that was nice news to hear! Since we were not having to go thru Columbus on the way home it saved us a ton of time!
After a delicious breakfast the next morning, we loaded up the van and hit the road. It was exciting to head back home, but at the same time we were sad that vacation was over. We made it back home by 2:30 on Wednesday afternoon, which was great! Mick went back to work on Thursday, so it was nice to have some down time before "real life" started up again. Sargent was so excited to see us, he jumped in the van as we were unpacking it and he refused to get out...it was as if he was saying "no way are you guys leaving me again!" Too funny. So now, we are unpacked and pretty much caught up on laundry, I think I have 1 load left this morning.
Tomorrow is Emily's 1st Birthday party at the rec center! We are super excited!! Well except for Luke,who has decided he does not want to go, because it is pink, and he does not like pink....I told him his cousins would be there and he would get to play with his friends and have cake, and he was still pretty sure he did not want to go....I think it is cute, but I am sure it will get old fast if his attitude does not change by tomorrow. Today, we are off to the mall to get the birthday girl a new dress for her party! I think it will be a fun shopping trip! I will post pics from her party as soon as I can, until then, have a great weekend!
After a delicious breakfast the next morning, we loaded up the van and hit the road. It was exciting to head back home, but at the same time we were sad that vacation was over. We made it back home by 2:30 on Wednesday afternoon, which was great! Mick went back to work on Thursday, so it was nice to have some down time before "real life" started up again. Sargent was so excited to see us, he jumped in the van as we were unpacking it and he refused to get out...it was as if he was saying "no way are you guys leaving me again!" Too funny. So now, we are unpacked and pretty much caught up on laundry, I think I have 1 load left this morning.
Tomorrow is Emily's 1st Birthday party at the rec center! We are super excited!! Well except for Luke,who has decided he does not want to go, because it is pink, and he does not like pink....I told him his cousins would be there and he would get to play with his friends and have cake, and he was still pretty sure he did not want to go....I think it is cute, but I am sure it will get old fast if his attitude does not change by tomorrow. Today, we are off to the mall to get the birthday girl a new dress for her party! I think it will be a fun shopping trip! I will post pics from her party as soon as I can, until then, have a great weekend!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Vacation Pics!
http://picasaweb.google.com/jessica.dobra/VacationFeb2009##
Here is the link to our vacation pictures! Enjoy- obviously there are a ton, as I uploaded them to the album, but have not weeded thru the bad ones yet...sorry, but laundry and cleaning and cooking are priorities again ;0( The worst part of vacation is coming home....
The aquarium was amazing on Tuesday! Luke and Emily both had an incredible time! Luke was able to touch sea stars, giant snails and a horseshoe crab! He also got to pet sharks! The one shark he touched was a guitar shark, so of course, he thought that was pretty neat! I am not sure what the other kind was that we were able to pet, but it was pretty good size and a bit scary having my little man stick his arm into a tank of sharks! But, he thought it rocked, and that is what matters! The octopus was pretty neat to see up close, as were the stink ray and giant sea turtles. This aquarium was really a neat place! There are a few pics of the kids playing in the "Frog Bog" a big froggy playground. Luke and Emily also thought that feeding the birds was pretty neat, tho Luke was too nervous to hold the cup of nectar...I had a hard time deciding if I should take pictures or video, as there was no way I could do both holding Emily, so the majority of the action stuff is on the video camera- sorry, but you can get an idea of the places we saw by checking out the pictures. The shark tunnel was pretty neat, Mick and I both had to slow Luke down, as he just wanted to run right thru it, but we were mesmerized. Also, we got to see one of the aquarium workers in their snorkel gear feeding the fish and cleaning the shark tunnel, talk about a stressful job! Seriously, I have NEVER seen a shark this close before, they are HUGE! And these were small compared to the description on the some of the walls! Kinda makes you a bit afraid to swim in the ocean anytime soon, hopefully that feeling goes away before we head to Texas this Fall.
After the aquarium, we headed to McDonald's for lunch and then back to the hotel for nap time and swimming before we went up to the 18th floor for dinner in the revolving restaurant. It was a really nice restaurant, but I will tell you more about that next time I post, as it is now bath time for Luke and Emily is pretty cranky.....gotta love being home. ;0)
Here is the link to our vacation pictures! Enjoy- obviously there are a ton, as I uploaded them to the album, but have not weeded thru the bad ones yet...sorry, but laundry and cleaning and cooking are priorities again ;0( The worst part of vacation is coming home....
The aquarium was amazing on Tuesday! Luke and Emily both had an incredible time! Luke was able to touch sea stars, giant snails and a horseshoe crab! He also got to pet sharks! The one shark he touched was a guitar shark, so of course, he thought that was pretty neat! I am not sure what the other kind was that we were able to pet, but it was pretty good size and a bit scary having my little man stick his arm into a tank of sharks! But, he thought it rocked, and that is what matters! The octopus was pretty neat to see up close, as were the stink ray and giant sea turtles. This aquarium was really a neat place! There are a few pics of the kids playing in the "Frog Bog" a big froggy playground. Luke and Emily also thought that feeding the birds was pretty neat, tho Luke was too nervous to hold the cup of nectar...I had a hard time deciding if I should take pictures or video, as there was no way I could do both holding Emily, so the majority of the action stuff is on the video camera- sorry, but you can get an idea of the places we saw by checking out the pictures. The shark tunnel was pretty neat, Mick and I both had to slow Luke down, as he just wanted to run right thru it, but we were mesmerized. Also, we got to see one of the aquarium workers in their snorkel gear feeding the fish and cleaning the shark tunnel, talk about a stressful job! Seriously, I have NEVER seen a shark this close before, they are HUGE! And these were small compared to the description on the some of the walls! Kinda makes you a bit afraid to swim in the ocean anytime soon, hopefully that feeling goes away before we head to Texas this Fall.
After the aquarium, we headed to McDonald's for lunch and then back to the hotel for nap time and swimming before we went up to the 18th floor for dinner in the revolving restaurant. It was a really nice restaurant, but I will tell you more about that next time I post, as it is now bath time for Luke and Emily is pretty cranky.....gotta love being home. ;0)
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Creation Museum
Well yesterday we spent the first half of the day at the Creation Museum. Luke loved the dinosaurs and the Noah's Ark exhibit. The petting zoo was really neat too. Their camel, Gomer, was super friendly and kept giving Luke kisses...it was really cute! The dinosaur animatronics were so life like, it was incredible. The designer of the exhibits used to be a creator for Universal Studios, so that gives you an idea of how cool this place was! Luke's favorite part was the Garden of Eden with the good guy dinosaurs. After the fall of man, the dinosaurs were a bit scary, but hey, so is everything else in life. The walk thru Bible history was very interesting and Luke loved all of the hands on learning centers for the kids. My favorite part was checking out Noah's Ark, we were able to walk thru part of the Ark and see what it would have been like. Luke participated in the "Little Dinosaur Read Along" after lunch and we checked out the petting zoo before heading to the museum store to check out some things. Mick found some neat DVD's, I got a book and Luke got a new book, a bouncy ball and sunglasses. Emily was not too fond of anything, so maybe she will like something at the aquarium today.
After we left the museum we stopped off at the GAP, Banana Republic, and Old Navy outlet store. Mick stayed in the van with the sleeping babies and let me go in and shop by myself for an hour! I left with a new pair of jeans and 7 tops for me and only spent $25.00!! AWESOME!!
We came back to the hotel afterwards and relaxed for a bit before heading downstairs for dinner. Mick took Luke swimming while I put Emily to bed and then everyone showered and got ready for an early bedtime, as we were all tired and cranky. Once the kids fell asleep tho, Mick and I were able to find our favorite TV show that we usually watch on Monday nights, 24, so we watched our show and crashed.
This morning we slept in a bit until 7ish and got up and dressed and ready for the day. We just got back from breakfast and are getting ready to head to the Newport Aquarium for the day. We are pretty excited, they do a penguin parade every morning and they choose a visitor to lead it, so cross your fingers that Luke is choosen!! Also, it sounds like they have a ton of interactive areas including petting the sharks and feeding the birds. Hope everyone back home is having a nice week...see you all Thursday!!
After we left the museum we stopped off at the GAP, Banana Republic, and Old Navy outlet store. Mick stayed in the van with the sleeping babies and let me go in and shop by myself for an hour! I left with a new pair of jeans and 7 tops for me and only spent $25.00!! AWESOME!!
We came back to the hotel afterwards and relaxed for a bit before heading downstairs for dinner. Mick took Luke swimming while I put Emily to bed and then everyone showered and got ready for an early bedtime, as we were all tired and cranky. Once the kids fell asleep tho, Mick and I were able to find our favorite TV show that we usually watch on Monday nights, 24, so we watched our show and crashed.
This morning we slept in a bit until 7ish and got up and dressed and ready for the day. We just got back from breakfast and are getting ready to head to the Newport Aquarium for the day. We are pretty excited, they do a penguin parade every morning and they choose a visitor to lead it, so cross your fingers that Luke is choosen!! Also, it sounds like they have a ton of interactive areas including petting the sharks and feeding the birds. Hope everyone back home is having a nice week...see you all Thursday!!
Monday, February 23, 2009
Penrod's Rock!
A huge thanks to Matt and Jenny Penrod (and Jonathan, Allison and Elaina!) for hosting the Dobra's this weekend for the first half of our vacation! We had an amazing time and it was so nice to just relax with great friends. We arrived Friday afternoon about 4:30 and Ma stopped for pizza on his way home from work. After dinner Jenny and I went out for pedi's and mani's...it was just like old times! We had a great time just catching up and hanging out! Friday night when we returned, we put the kids to bed and the adults just hung out watching a movie. Luke and Jonathan wanted to sleep together, but when 10:00 rolled around and they were both still jumping on the beds we decided to separate the big boys. They both crashed within minutes of being put in separate rooms and everyone slept great!
Saturday morning we got up and meet Matt's parents and the kids cousins for breakfast about 8:00. There was a local restaurant doing a church fundraiser for the high school kids mission trip later this year. Breakfast was great, and the kids all did really well. We left breakfast and went back to the Penrod's and let the kids play for a bit before everyone crashed for a nice, long 3 hour nap! When the kids got up, we headed to one of the local malls for Mick's birthday dinner. The Penrod's treated everyone to dinner and dessert at The Cheesecake Factory. It was oh, so good! You should see the looks we get tho, when we walk in asking for a table for 9, 7 seats and 2 highchairs. Everyone was very accommodating tho and the kids did a excellent job, especially for being so wound up and excited from the busy weekend! We let Mick choose the cheesecake flavor and his pick was Vanilla Bean, and it was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!!!! The waitress, was going to bring it out, but realized it was frozen solid, so we opted to just take it home and eat it later that night. During dinner, the baby girls really enjoyed the mac and cheese and the older 3 loved the chicken fingers and french fries...who woulda thought? LOL We actually received a compliment on how well behaved the kids all were from a person sitting behind us...gotta say, that makes a mommy's heart swell! We headed home and the kids played games and went to bed about 8. Matt headed upstairs to bed after having 2 slices of cheesecake, saying he was not feeling well....hummmmm, I wonder why???? Jen, Mick and myself hung out and watched a movie before calling it a night.
Sunday morning was typical, getting ready for church...well as typical as can be when you have a house full. LOL...Actually it went really smooth and we even made it to church 10 minutes early! The kids all had a great time in the kids classrooms and the adults enjoyed some Sunday morning worship time. We went to lunch at a sub shop after church before hitting the road.
We arrived at our hotel about 3:20 yesterday afternoon, and it is awesome! The view of Cincinnati at night is spectacular! Luke and Em, both love looking out the balcony window over the city. We are on the 13th floor, so of course the elevator rides are exciting! We grabbed dinner in the restaurant downstairs last night and then headed back to the room to get ready for swimming. Luke loved it and was jumping into the pool for daddy to catch him, but Emily was not too sure about the water. She cried a bit at first, but warmed up to it about 20 minutes later. Both kids had a great time splashing and having fun, and burning some energy. We came back to our room and everyone showered and out in jammies and we all snuggled in the king size bed and watched a movie before putting the kids to sleep. Luke loves the size of the bed, he told us that it is huge bed for karate kicks! LOL.....
Well, I am off to jump in the shower before we head to breakfast and then to the Creation Museum for the day. I am going to try and talk Mick into stopping at the Old Navy, GAP, and Banana Republic outlet on the way home...fingers crossed....oh and we forgot to bring the adaptor for the camera, so we can not upload pics until we return....sorry!!
Saturday morning we got up and meet Matt's parents and the kids cousins for breakfast about 8:00. There was a local restaurant doing a church fundraiser for the high school kids mission trip later this year. Breakfast was great, and the kids all did really well. We left breakfast and went back to the Penrod's and let the kids play for a bit before everyone crashed for a nice, long 3 hour nap! When the kids got up, we headed to one of the local malls for Mick's birthday dinner. The Penrod's treated everyone to dinner and dessert at The Cheesecake Factory. It was oh, so good! You should see the looks we get tho, when we walk in asking for a table for 9, 7 seats and 2 highchairs. Everyone was very accommodating tho and the kids did a excellent job, especially for being so wound up and excited from the busy weekend! We let Mick choose the cheesecake flavor and his pick was Vanilla Bean, and it was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!!!! The waitress, was going to bring it out, but realized it was frozen solid, so we opted to just take it home and eat it later that night. During dinner, the baby girls really enjoyed the mac and cheese and the older 3 loved the chicken fingers and french fries...who woulda thought? LOL We actually received a compliment on how well behaved the kids all were from a person sitting behind us...gotta say, that makes a mommy's heart swell! We headed home and the kids played games and went to bed about 8. Matt headed upstairs to bed after having 2 slices of cheesecake, saying he was not feeling well....hummmmm, I wonder why???? Jen, Mick and myself hung out and watched a movie before calling it a night.
Sunday morning was typical, getting ready for church...well as typical as can be when you have a house full. LOL...Actually it went really smooth and we even made it to church 10 minutes early! The kids all had a great time in the kids classrooms and the adults enjoyed some Sunday morning worship time. We went to lunch at a sub shop after church before hitting the road.
We arrived at our hotel about 3:20 yesterday afternoon, and it is awesome! The view of Cincinnati at night is spectacular! Luke and Em, both love looking out the balcony window over the city. We are on the 13th floor, so of course the elevator rides are exciting! We grabbed dinner in the restaurant downstairs last night and then headed back to the room to get ready for swimming. Luke loved it and was jumping into the pool for daddy to catch him, but Emily was not too sure about the water. She cried a bit at first, but warmed up to it about 20 minutes later. Both kids had a great time splashing and having fun, and burning some energy. We came back to our room and everyone showered and out in jammies and we all snuggled in the king size bed and watched a movie before putting the kids to sleep. Luke loves the size of the bed, he told us that it is huge bed for karate kicks! LOL.....
Well, I am off to jump in the shower before we head to breakfast and then to the Creation Museum for the day. I am going to try and talk Mick into stopping at the Old Navy, GAP, and Banana Republic outlet on the way home...fingers crossed....oh and we forgot to bring the adaptor for the camera, so we can not upload pics until we return....sorry!!
Thursday, February 19, 2009
I should be packing....
but have decided to play around on the computer instead....plus if I go into the kids rooms, I am sure it will wake them up with me rummaging around looking for cute outfits and such......But, I am doing laundry for the trip, so that counts as something right? We got Luke his first pair of "big-boy" shoes today, they tie, no Velcro here anymore...it will be interesting to see how long it takes me to decide that Velcro is a wonderful thing. LOL. I also picked him up some lacing cards to work on in the van tomorrow since we have about a 7 hour drive. He seems excited for them right now, but I am sure the novelty of them will wear off tomorrow before we get to Bloomington! ;0)
I hope you all have a wonderful week and I will post some pics when we get back, until then, miss me, but not too much! ;0)
I hope you all have a wonderful week and I will post some pics when we get back, until then, miss me, but not too much! ;0)
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Not much new going on....
but I did want to tell you to check out my sister-in-laws blog. Heather has updated it with all kinds of stories and pictures and info about the new baby Jacob (Happy 1 week birthday little buddy!!) There is a link to it on the right side of here. Jacob is sooooooo adorable and last night when we took a meal to them Emily snuggled up on him like she does with her baby doll, it was pretty cute. Heather posted a pic of it, it looks like Emily is trying to eat her new cousin! Too funny.
Did you hear on the news about the lady that is only going to 1,500 this year for groceries and such? I think it is pretty awesome sounding. She said she is only using 125/month for groceries for this entire year. Now, she started her stockpile last summer, and it is pretty large. I can totally see how she does it, I mean I bought 8 boxes of taco shells yesterday at Schnucks for .50 cents a box (rain check from then went 10 for 10 and I had a coupon for each one). I am wondering about medications tho....I am on 3 different pills a day and Mick is 1 a day too.....that is where our budget gets thrown off. We spend $60.00 a month on those....I should look into getting the 3 month supply next time I stop in to pick them up....
Did you hear on the news about the lady that is only going to 1,500 this year for groceries and such? I think it is pretty awesome sounding. She said she is only using 125/month for groceries for this entire year. Now, she started her stockpile last summer, and it is pretty large. I can totally see how she does it, I mean I bought 8 boxes of taco shells yesterday at Schnucks for .50 cents a box (rain check from then went 10 for 10 and I had a coupon for each one). I am wondering about medications tho....I am on 3 different pills a day and Mick is 1 a day too.....that is where our budget gets thrown off. We spend $60.00 a month on those....I should look into getting the 3 month supply next time I stop in to pick them up....
Monday, February 16, 2009
POOP ATTACK
My day has been long. I was up with Emily at 3ish....I let her cry for a bit, hoping and praying that she would go back to sleep....no such luck. I got up and fed her a bottle and she passed back out, but I was not so lucky. I tossed and turned and listened to my hubby snore for about an hour and a half before I finally decided to get up about 4:45 this morning. I read for a bit and got showered before the hubby woke up, the kids of course, slept in until about 7:15 this morning (little stinkers!) I was getting ready Emily for her bath and she was playing in her room, having some nakie time while Luke and I were getting the bath water ready. He wanted a blue bath with bubbles today, so we added food coloring and Mr. Bubble. I went to get Emily and she was sitting in poo!! Not a little poo, alot of poo! It was on her feet, her legs, her tummy, her back, her hands and arms (thank goodness not her face!!!) So I have to carry her from her room and put her in the tub and rinse her off as quick as I can and drain the tub, so we can start over again with bath time. The toys that were in the tub are now in the washer along with the bathmat, towels and poopy washcloth! YUCK! Poor Emily was pretty confused as was Luke..."Mommy- why Emily poop on her carpet and not in her diaper?" Well honey, mommy was giving her some nakie time, looks like I learned my lesson!
Over-due
So, my last post almost a week ago! Ooops! Here is the run down of our life right now: Baby Jacob Michael Dobra was born on Wednesday evening around 7pm. He was 8lbs 13oz and 20.5 inches long. He is super cute and has A TON of dark hair! We went to visit Gabe and Heather again last night and to bring them a few things. They look tired and worn out, but are living on love right now...I told them they would get used to sleepless nights and that it does get easier! Boy- I forgot how bad those first 6 weeks SUCK!!!!
I have been following my SIL's Marci's blog, it is super cute and you should totally check it out. I need to steal her design tho, as mine is so plain compared to hers! Yes- Marci- I am jealous of your blog! ;0)
Friday night the kids stayed at my moms house so Mick and I could celebrate V-day early. Dinner at Alexander's was awesome and so nice. We tried to go see a movie after dinner, but it took us an hour to get from Alexander's to The Rave, so we missed the time spot we had wanted and did not want for the next show time....oh well, maybe next time.
We leave Friday for our trip to Ohio, and we are soooooo excited! We are spending a few days with our friends The Penrod's and then headed to Cincinnati for 3 days to check out the aquarium and Creation Museum. My sis is staying here with the dog, so I am sure he will be super spoiled by her and Mat. He always seems soooo happy to see her, but us not so much. Oh well, guess she must be a pretty cool aunt ;) HAHAHA!
I have been following my SIL's Marci's blog, it is super cute and you should totally check it out. I need to steal her design tho, as mine is so plain compared to hers! Yes- Marci- I am jealous of your blog! ;0)
Friday night the kids stayed at my moms house so Mick and I could celebrate V-day early. Dinner at Alexander's was awesome and so nice. We tried to go see a movie after dinner, but it took us an hour to get from Alexander's to The Rave, so we missed the time spot we had wanted and did not want for the next show time....oh well, maybe next time.
We leave Friday for our trip to Ohio, and we are soooooo excited! We are spending a few days with our friends The Penrod's and then headed to Cincinnati for 3 days to check out the aquarium and Creation Museum. My sis is staying here with the dog, so I am sure he will be super spoiled by her and Mat. He always seems soooo happy to see her, but us not so much. Oh well, guess she must be a pretty cool aunt ;) HAHAHA!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
A new addition.....
We have some exciting news on the Dobra side of the family! It sounds like my sister-in-law will be induced this evening and hopefully welcoming a healthy baby boy named Jacob into the world! Praise God! What an awesome beginning for their little family. I will post pics when we get some, but here's to Gabe and Heather and little Jacob....Congratulations!!!!! For those of you keeping count this little guy will be grand-baby #9 for Mick's parents. Yes- we keep Kathy pretty busy with all these little ones running around! ;0)
Thursday, February 05, 2009
This weeks grocery sales!!!
I had a blast at Kroger this morning! I got 2 packages of TP and 2 bottles of Dial hand soap for less than $1.00!!!! The TP was free with coupons and the hand soap was on sale for .88 cents and I used two .35 cent coupons to each doubled to .70 cents! Meaning I paid .18 cents for each bottle of hand soap!
We also went to Schnucks and I purchased 51 items and my original total was $40.40. After coupons I spent $16.82!!! For $16.00 I got 20 jars of baby food, 10 boxes of pizza rolls, 2 cans of Progresso soup, 4 boxes of Betty Crocker instant potatoes, 2 bags frozen veggies, and 13 cans of Pillsbury crescent rolls! Good thing I can freeze the rolls! LOL
Schnucks has the 10 for 10 deal going on right now and since they double coupons I was able to get the pizza rolls for .30 cents a box! The potatoes were .50 cents a box, the veggies and soup were free with coupons, the rolls were .30 cents a roll and the baby food was on sale 10 for 4.50, but I had two 1.00 off coupons making them 10 for 3.50!
We also went to Schnucks and I purchased 51 items and my original total was $40.40. After coupons I spent $16.82!!! For $16.00 I got 20 jars of baby food, 10 boxes of pizza rolls, 2 cans of Progresso soup, 4 boxes of Betty Crocker instant potatoes, 2 bags frozen veggies, and 13 cans of Pillsbury crescent rolls! Good thing I can freeze the rolls! LOL
Schnucks has the 10 for 10 deal going on right now and since they double coupons I was able to get the pizza rolls for .30 cents a box! The potatoes were .50 cents a box, the veggies and soup were free with coupons, the rolls were .30 cents a roll and the baby food was on sale 10 for 4.50, but I had two 1.00 off coupons making them 10 for 3.50!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
These boots were made for walking....
Emily took her 1st steps tonight!! We grabbed the video camera and got maybe 1 or 2 and of course she was too distracted with the camera and video camera that she would not do it anymore...until we put them down and she decided to take a few more steps! It was pretty funny...she was crawling towards me and got up on all 4's and just kinda looked at her feet and then stood up, looked at her feet again and then started walking! Such a big girl!!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Bubbles, Bubbles Everywhere
What happens when daddy decides to try and help mommy out with bath time? Well let's just say lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of bubbles! I walked into the bathroom during bath time and Mick was scrubbing Emily down- everything seemed under control so I ran downstairs to swap some laundry. I come back up and the tub is being drained, the kids are covered head to toe in massive amounts of bubbles, the tub is FULL of bubbles and Emily is starting to shiver as she is so cold. From what I can tell (based on the empty bottle of Curious George bath bubbles floating in the tub) an entire bottle of bubble bath was poured into the running water. I should note, that when I say an entire bottle, I mean a bottle of bath bubbles that was purchased yesterday afternoon! ;) So as Emily is shivering more and turning a bit purple and crying, Mick is trying to get the water temp adjusted so we can rinse the soap off the kiddos. Luke is upset because he thinks that bath time is over and I am shocked at so much can go array in a matter of 3 minutes! LOL Always fun in the Dobra household! Seriously tho- it was very nice of Mick to try and take over bath time, although I think it will be awhile before he attempts that again. Too bad I didn't think to grab the camera~!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Saturday, January 17, 2009
My new binder!!!
So when I started couponing back in June I started out with just a plain envelope. Soon that filled up, so I moved up to a small little expandable file from Target that cost a buck. Next I bought a 1/2 inch binder so I could see my coupons faster and easier. I outgrew that small little binder in about a week! LOL.....So I purchased a 1.5 inch binder, it was purple, I loved it and most of you know that purple is my FAVORITE color, so I was in couponing heaven! Well, after a few months of getting my coupons thru my Chicago hook-up (Shout out to Lisa!), I have again expanded my binder collection. Here is my new binder- I must say that I love it! (Wish they would have had purple tho ;). It is a 3 incher...hopefully this one lasts a bit longer! I worked on organizing my coupons and making a few new sections in my new binder tonight so I am ready for K-Mart this week- tomorrow the start doubling coupons up to $2.00!!!!! I can not wait for this week to start!!! I told Mick that I am pumped to start getting some more free stuff!!!!
Monday, January 12, 2009
Robots
Here are our robots we made this morning. We used empty popcorn and hot cocoa boxes for thier bodies and covered them with construction paper. Pipe cleaner arms, construction paper legs, stickers for their mouths and cotton puffs for their noses. The eyes are mini cupcake liners with googlie eyes in the middle and the hair is cut up pipe cleaners. Enjoy!
Friday, January 09, 2009
More savings! (duh!)
Went to Walgreen's today: I bought 2 boxes of Quacker instant oatmeal, 2 gallons of milk and 8 Garnier Fructris hair products. My total after my coupons was $2.68!! Once we added tax on it was $4.68. I saved $43.22 there today.
Last night I went to Kroger and bought 31 items and my total before coupons was $25 something and afterwards it was down to $7.oo!! At Schnucks yesterday afternoon I bought 25 items and my total was $25 something, after my coupons I spent $8.00!! Here is a run down of my purchases from Kroger and Schnucks (remember that I only spent $15.00 for all of this!)
12 pack of Pepsi
22 jars baby food
2 FUZE drinks (for hubby!)
4 packages Cottenelle TP
2 bottles Soft soap Hand wash
7 boxes of Tostino Pizza rolls
2 boxes Betty Crocker Instant potatoes
2 two packs of GUM Toothbrushes
2 bottles Dawn dish soap
4 Suave Deo
8 cans Progresso soup
And I only spent $15 for all of that! Imagine how hard it was to run to Cubs today and spend $20 on baby wipes and ingredients for Taco Soup for tonight! Oh well- it will be a fun party and I am feeding 10 adults and 8 kiddos for that...not too bad! Until next time...Happy Shopping!
Last night I went to Kroger and bought 31 items and my total before coupons was $25 something and afterwards it was down to $7.oo!! At Schnucks yesterday afternoon I bought 25 items and my total was $25 something, after my coupons I spent $8.00!! Here is a run down of my purchases from Kroger and Schnucks (remember that I only spent $15.00 for all of this!)
12 pack of Pepsi
22 jars baby food
2 FUZE drinks (for hubby!)
4 packages Cottenelle TP
2 bottles Soft soap Hand wash
7 boxes of Tostino Pizza rolls
2 boxes Betty Crocker Instant potatoes
2 two packs of GUM Toothbrushes
2 bottles Dawn dish soap
4 Suave Deo
8 cans Progresso soup
And I only spent $15 for all of that! Imagine how hard it was to run to Cubs today and spend $20 on baby wipes and ingredients for Taco Soup for tonight! Oh well- it will be a fun party and I am feeding 10 adults and 8 kiddos for that...not too bad! Until next time...Happy Shopping!
Sunday, January 04, 2009
How Much?
I saved my family $88.93 today...how much did you save yours? I went to Walgreens and CVS and my total between the 2 stores with thier current sales (not including coupons and extra-care bucks I used) was $115.27. After all of my coupons and ECB's were used my out of pocket was $26.34! Plus, I have 16.00 in ECB's that I earned for my next trip to CVS and $5 in Walgreen's register rewards to go towards my next trip there. Oh and I am waiting on my rebate from Walgreens that should total $7.00! SWEET!!!!!
Friday, January 02, 2009
Polar Plunge....
...Yeah right! We did however decide to go to the RiverPlex for a fun time during Pre-School splash this morning, that was a good time! Luke ran around like a crazy man and went down the slide a ton of times. Emily, on the other hand, was not that into it. She was content in my arms and as you can tell from the pics, she was a bit out of sorts and not really down with swimming in cool water. Oh well, maybe next time.
The picture of Luke and Kenzi was taken on New Years Eve at our friend's house JereLyn. She and new hubby, Chris, had a great party that night! They are super hostesses (sp?) and had a huge array of food and drinks available. The kids crashed about 9:15, so the adults went downstairs and played "Would you Rather". Super fun game, I got for Christmas from my super cool BIL! Thanks Mat! The game ended up lasting about 3 hours, thanks in part to the hilarious conversation that was happening between turns (thank you Jere for all the info about the feet!) ;0) We headed home about 1 am and the kids slept in the car and crashed in their beds once we were home. Mick and I crashed as well.
New Years Day, I woke up with a cold and felt horriable, so Mick and the kids went to his parents house for the entire day, so I could stay home and sleep (thank you sweetie!), I honestly think that was the first time I have been home alone since Emily was born! I ended ep sleeping for like 5 hours! But I feel much better today, so it was totally worth it! Emily turned 10 months old yesterday, so that was the other exciting bit of news on our homefront. Happy New Year everyone! Hope 2009 is as great, if not better, than 2008!
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Fevers, ice, snow and more....
Been a few days since I have posted. Emily has been sick since last Friday, but that is only the middle of the story.....
Friday morning 2:30- Mick and I wake up to our doorbell going crazy and the answering machine going off....the power was going out and it was making everything act up. (from the lovely ice storm we had). Thankfully both the kids slept thru that episode, at least until about 3:30 when we realized that there were about 30,000 people without power and that it was going to awile before it came back on. So my ever prepared hubby heads dowstairs and brings up his "indoor emergency propane heater" (since the Sandberg's moved) and his hand-crank radio (yes, I made fun of him for buying it last summer). Luke woke up during that commotion and wanted to come snuggle in with mommy. About that time it was starting to get chilly, so Mick set up the heater and we stayed warm in our room for about 30 minutes until Emily woke up to eat. At that point we decided to set up camp in Emily's room, so in comes the heater and Luke's portable cot and blankets and the hand crank radio....I fed Emily, Mick helped Luke fall back to sleep and everyone was nice and warm and content...until about 6:30 when we woke up and the power was still out. So we sat in Emily's room and stayed warm playing with Luke's race cars and Emily's books. About 9:30 Emily was ready for nap, so the boys bundled up and went out to see the damage from the ice storm. Our neighbors tree was blocking our driveway and our tree was blocking the other neighbors driveway. The ice was so thick on the tress and our driveway was a skating rink. While we were outside the power came back on (at 11:00), so Mick went in to discover that the sump pump had turned back on, but the pipe running out of the house was frozen, so the water was being thrown all over his work room! GRRRRR! Once we got things back in order it was time to come in and warm up and take a nap....or so we thought....
Friday afternoon 1:30pm- Emily is so cranky, I think she is teething. I apply so numbing neds to her mouth and still that is not helping, so I give her some Tylenol and finally leave her to cry it out. She falls asleep and wakes up 10 minutes later. She feels a bit warm, so I take her temp and it is 101.5. That starts the fun! From Friday until Monday we are stuck in the house with a sick baby. Her fever peaks at 103.6, she vomits and has diarreah and does not want to eat or sleep. She is so uncomfortable and her little eyes look sooooo tired! ;( After 3 phone calls with the after hours service at her Dr. office, and being repeatidly told that unless her fever hits 105 or she has no wet diapers in 12 hours, there is nothing they will do and that she will get better. Come Monday morning Emily is still sick, still not eating and still not sleeping (which means that mom and dad are still up also). We take her into the doc and they check her over and say it is viral and must run its course.
Fastforward to Tuesday after her morning nap- Emily wakes up with green gunk leaking from her ear!!!! I call the doc and they finally call back and call in some antibiotics and numbing drops. She gets a dose of each and we put her to bed. She slept about 15 minutes and was up again crying in pain! Mick was up with her from 11-12 and I was up with her from 1-3. She finally crashes and wakes up at 6, still in pain. We decide to give her Tylenol on a 4 hour schedule and she seems content.
Christmas Eve night- she is such a little sweetie! After her 2 antibiotics and doeses of Tylenol or Motrin she plays happily during the Christmas Party. Crashes in the van on the way home about 10pm.
Christmas Day (TODAY!) She woke up about 1:30 this morning, ate, took some more meds and crashed until.......8:45!!!!!! Mick and I are shocked! That is the most sleep she has had in a week! (Us too!) Of course, little man was pretty excited so we got up and did presents about 7:30, but let Em sleep. We think she seems to be feeling better, say a prayer, that we can get her over this and back on a normal sleep schedule.
In other news- Mick got a punching bag for Christmas (he wanted one) and I got a CRICUT!!!!!! I am so excited to play with it tonight once the kids are in bed and during their nap times! I can not wait!!!! Luke got all kinds of GeoTrax and Ligntening McQueen stuff and castle and knight stuff. Em got a baby doll (her first!) and she loves it! Also a princess ball pit and a stroller for her doll. We are having such an awesome Christmas day-the kids are napping now and we are relaxing watching a movie before we start getting ready for another party! Merry Christmas everyone!!!
Friday morning 2:30- Mick and I wake up to our doorbell going crazy and the answering machine going off....the power was going out and it was making everything act up. (from the lovely ice storm we had). Thankfully both the kids slept thru that episode, at least until about 3:30 when we realized that there were about 30,000 people without power and that it was going to awile before it came back on. So my ever prepared hubby heads dowstairs and brings up his "indoor emergency propane heater" (since the Sandberg's moved) and his hand-crank radio (yes, I made fun of him for buying it last summer). Luke woke up during that commotion and wanted to come snuggle in with mommy. About that time it was starting to get chilly, so Mick set up the heater and we stayed warm in our room for about 30 minutes until Emily woke up to eat. At that point we decided to set up camp in Emily's room, so in comes the heater and Luke's portable cot and blankets and the hand crank radio....I fed Emily, Mick helped Luke fall back to sleep and everyone was nice and warm and content...until about 6:30 when we woke up and the power was still out. So we sat in Emily's room and stayed warm playing with Luke's race cars and Emily's books. About 9:30 Emily was ready for nap, so the boys bundled up and went out to see the damage from the ice storm. Our neighbors tree was blocking our driveway and our tree was blocking the other neighbors driveway. The ice was so thick on the tress and our driveway was a skating rink. While we were outside the power came back on (at 11:00), so Mick went in to discover that the sump pump had turned back on, but the pipe running out of the house was frozen, so the water was being thrown all over his work room! GRRRRR! Once we got things back in order it was time to come in and warm up and take a nap....or so we thought....
Friday afternoon 1:30pm- Emily is so cranky, I think she is teething. I apply so numbing neds to her mouth and still that is not helping, so I give her some Tylenol and finally leave her to cry it out. She falls asleep and wakes up 10 minutes later. She feels a bit warm, so I take her temp and it is 101.5. That starts the fun! From Friday until Monday we are stuck in the house with a sick baby. Her fever peaks at 103.6, she vomits and has diarreah and does not want to eat or sleep. She is so uncomfortable and her little eyes look sooooo tired! ;( After 3 phone calls with the after hours service at her Dr. office, and being repeatidly told that unless her fever hits 105 or she has no wet diapers in 12 hours, there is nothing they will do and that she will get better. Come Monday morning Emily is still sick, still not eating and still not sleeping (which means that mom and dad are still up also). We take her into the doc and they check her over and say it is viral and must run its course.
Fastforward to Tuesday after her morning nap- Emily wakes up with green gunk leaking from her ear!!!! I call the doc and they finally call back and call in some antibiotics and numbing drops. She gets a dose of each and we put her to bed. She slept about 15 minutes and was up again crying in pain! Mick was up with her from 11-12 and I was up with her from 1-3. She finally crashes and wakes up at 6, still in pain. We decide to give her Tylenol on a 4 hour schedule and she seems content.
Christmas Eve night- she is such a little sweetie! After her 2 antibiotics and doeses of Tylenol or Motrin she plays happily during the Christmas Party. Crashes in the van on the way home about 10pm.
Christmas Day (TODAY!) She woke up about 1:30 this morning, ate, took some more meds and crashed until.......8:45!!!!!! Mick and I are shocked! That is the most sleep she has had in a week! (Us too!) Of course, little man was pretty excited so we got up and did presents about 7:30, but let Em sleep. We think she seems to be feeling better, say a prayer, that we can get her over this and back on a normal sleep schedule.
In other news- Mick got a punching bag for Christmas (he wanted one) and I got a CRICUT!!!!!! I am so excited to play with it tonight once the kids are in bed and during their nap times! I can not wait!!!! Luke got all kinds of GeoTrax and Ligntening McQueen stuff and castle and knight stuff. Em got a baby doll (her first!) and she loves it! Also a princess ball pit and a stroller for her doll. We are having such an awesome Christmas day-the kids are napping now and we are relaxing watching a movie before we start getting ready for another party! Merry Christmas everyone!!!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
"THAT" mom....
I never want to be "THAT" mom again! It really sucks. I was "THAT" mom at the grocery store yesterday and it does not feel good (because it is all about my pride anyway, right?). You know the mom at the store with the whiny, annoying little child being a complete terror? Yep, that was me yesterday. We were grocery shopping and my little man decided to act like a complete stinker the entire time. Thankfully Emily slept the whole time in her chair, but Luke really tested my limits. It started fine, but about 2 seconds after we walk into the store he decided he wanted marsh mellows and when I told him no, they were not on the list, that was the beginning of the end. From there he wanted to get his little hands on everything in the store. From knocking over the bottles of BBQ sauce and blocking the aisle as people were trying to get past us, oh and how can I forget the constant " I have to pee!!". It actually got to a point to where one mom said to me, "you know, they do have a restroom in here". And then an older gentleman even offered to watch my cart and Emily so I could take him. (Mind you, Luke had gone to the bathroom 10 minutes before we arrived at the store, so he should have been fine to hold it). I declined the offer and told Luke he had to wait until after we paid, and then we could take him potty. So for the next 20 minutes of shopping and waiting to pay, it was non stop "I have to pee-pee!". I can not tell you how many looks of annoyance I received yesterday, but I did however, also receive a few looks of sympathy from moms who have been there before. I rather enjoy being the other mom, the one giving the smpathetic looks, not the one receiving them.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
3 short years...
Luke's 3rd Birthday 12-13-2008
Luke's 1st Birthday 12-13-2006
Luke's Birthday 12-13-2005I can not believe that Luke is 3 years old!! He is pretty excited about his "Lightning McQueen" birthday party today at the rec center and he keeps asking for swords and GeoTrax. My little baby is wainting to play with trains and swords! It is bittersweet, I love seeing him grow and change and become an independent little boy, but I also miss the early morning snuggles I used to get from him. He has changed so much in the last 3 years (obviously!) but, I can not believe that the time is passing so quickly. A friend a church said to me once, "the days take forever, but years fly bye". It is so true, and it makes me realize that I need to treasure all the little moments, as they will be gone before I know it. Mick and I are beginning to talk about pre-schools and looking into the future, and trying to decide where to send him for school and I am still in shock that we are having these conversations about my little Luke. He is becoming such a young man also, today he told me he needed "priacy" in the bathroom to do his business. LOL. And the way he snuggles up to his little sister and tells her he loves her is priceless. Some of the things he says just blow my mind, I am constantly having to check myself before I say something that could potentially hurt his feelings, like the other day I told someone that he was being a stinker, and he looked up to my and said "mommy, I no being a stinker!". I had to apologize to him and explain that indeed he was, as he was not listening to mommy, but at the same time I should not have said that about him to someone when he was in the same room.
Luke has recently started "reading" books as well. He will sit with us and read to Emer's all of his stories. Of course, he is just paraphrasing what the book says, but it is so cute. Unfortunately, every time I try and get some video of it, the 2 of them get distracted and stop acting so cute. Oh well, maybe in the future. Enjoy and give your babies a snuggle today, as they grow up too fast!
I am still trying to find a way to upload his picsture from his 2nd birthday party...having some trouble, but I am sure that when my hubby gets done working in the basement he will be right on that for me! ;)
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